A bill was submitted to Congress this week that aims to prohibit states from discriminating against prospective LGBT adoptive or foster parents.
U.S. Rep. Peter Stark (D-Calif.) reintroduced the Every Child Deserves a Family Act on May 3, along with 34 cosponsors.
No representatives from Pennsylvania are cosponsors.
The measure would withhold federal funding for states whose adoptive or foster-care programs discriminate based on sexual orientation, gender identity or marital status.
“There is an acute shortage of adoptive and foster parents,” Stark said in a statement on the floor of the House Tuesday. “Yet, despite this fact and the documented terrible consequences of long stays in the child-welfare system, some states have enacted discriminatory bans prohibiting children from being placed with qualified parents due solely to the parent’s marital status or sexual orientation.”
Just last month, Arizona passed a law giving preference in adoption cases to married heterosexual couples.
Pennsylvania law does not prohibit single or coupled gays or lesbians from adopting, and, in 2002, the state Supreme Court ruled that a same-sex partner of a parent can adopt his or her children.
Only six states explicitly forbid discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in adoption laws.
Stark said studies have shown that up to 2 million gays and lesbians in the country are interested in becoming adoptive or foster parents, and 1 million are already doing so.
He estimated that the federal government disperses more than $7 billion per year to the child-welfare system.
“We should not accept policies that use federal funds to enact discriminatory barriers to adoption and close the door to thousands of potential homes,” he said.
Stark estimated that there are currently about 500,000 children in the foster-care system, about 125,000 of whom are waiting to be adopted.
About 25,000 youth are “aging out” of the system, a population Stark said is “more likely than nearly any other group to become homeless or incarcerated or to suffer with mental illness and substance abuse.”
Stark said his measure is similar to a law that withheld federal funds from child welfare agencies that discriminated based on race.
“When considering a potential placement for a child, the only criteria should be what is in the child’s best interest and whether the prospective parent can provide a safe and nurturing home. Bigotry should play not part in this decision,” he said.
Stark first introduced the measure last session, but it died in committee.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) will introduce the companion bill in the Senate next month.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].